[Vice Captain Marine POV]
"Man, to think they'd attack at dusk," I muttered, rubbing my eyes as we made our way back from the base bar.
"I know, right? I was just starting to enjoy my drink," my buddy grumbled beside me.
Before we could continue, our captain's angry voice snapped us out of it.
"What's the meaning of this?!"
I turned toward the cargo plane and froze. The demon team's leader was walking up the ramp like she owned it.
She was tall—easily 1.93 meters—with black hair streaked with purple and horns curling back from her head. A few patches of dark scales lined her temples, but it was her eyes that did it. They glowed faintly, unnaturally. Every time I looked at them, I felt like I was staring into something far more than just a demon. Possessed? No—something divine.
Behind her, the rest of her squad followed, all a bit stiff, clearly unsure about barging in.
"Hmph. What do they want now?" one of my marines muttered.
The demon ignored our captain and walked straight down the aisle, her team casually tossing our gear off the seats to claim their spots.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" our captain yelled, marching after her.
"We're going to Stronghold 1," she replied flatly.
"Yes, ma'am," the pilot confirmed from the cockpit. We were scheduled for that run anyway.
"Hey! This is my ship, demon! How dare you—"
I stepped in quickly. "Sir, we're going there anyway. Let's not waste time arguing. The longer we wait, the worse the situation's going to be."
He grunted but backed off, stomping to a seat. The demon glanced at me as I walked past, and my breath hitched.
'What are those eyes?'
"You alright, Major?" one of my marines asked, tapping my shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm good," I muttered.
"Alright, listen up," the captain barked. "We've got a swarm of airborne threats. Once those doors open, it's going to be chaos. So we are not doing a drop, we are going to need to land outside the fortress and go in on foot."
I tuned him out. I had written the plan.
I studied the demons again. Their leader sat with her back straight, hands relaxed but ready. The girl beside her, a wolf beastkin, looked more like the type I'd seen down at the bar. Maybe I could get some intel from her later.
Then something slammed into the hull.
"Get ready! We're closing in!" the pilot shouted.
Outside, the skies were black with harpies and wyverns.
"Open the back door," the demon leader said suddenly.
"What?"
"Sorry, ma'am, we're not equipped for that kind of drop," I said, walking up to her.
She clicked her tongue, muttered something, and vanished.
"She's outside!" the pilot shouted.
I rushed forward and stared through the window. She was already midair, teleporting between monsters, slicing through them like a goddamn reaper.
"Holy shit. How is she doing that?"
"Whoa," the wolf girl behind me whispered, impressed. "She's showing off again."
Moments later, she reappeared at the ramp.
"The sky's clear. Open the doors."
"Not happening," our captain started.
"Doors open," the pilot said, ignoring him.
The demon grabbed one of her teammates and tossed them out like a sack of potatoes.
"This bitch is crazy," the captain muttered, grabbing his gear and jumping.
Clicking my tongue, I followed. Thanks to my telekinetic powers, I didn't need a parachute.
"Deploy, James!" the captain shouted.
I focused, slowing the descent of our team and guiding them safely to the wall below.
We landed with precision. The Marines turned to scan the skies, rifles raised.
The demon leader, though, wasn't even looking at the forest. Her eyes were on the stronghold city inside the walls.
"Hey! What's the meaning of this?!" our captain shouted.
"Now what?" she asked, not even glancing at him.
Her squad was already in combat, and it seemed to have been in combat for a while already, seeing the number of monsters on the floor. But there seems to be a problem, instead of controlled strikes the demons were tearing through both monsters and structures at the same rate.
"Get your people under control! They're wrecking the stronghold!"
"Yeah, I see it," she said, completely unfazed.
"Do something!"
"They'll clean it up later. Consider it a lesson."
"That's not how this works!"
"All civvies and regular soldiers are in bunkers. I confirmed it myself."
He looked like he wanted to argue more, but his comms officer ran up.
"Sir! Incoming cargo planes requesting landing instructions."
She spoke up before the captain could. "Tell them to land on the outer wall. There's plenty of space."
"...Fine. Give the order," the captain muttered.
"Hey Marasuki, should we help Lucas?" the demon asked.
"Probably," the wolf girl replied, leaping down toward a skirmish.
"Sir, Zelda wants to know who authorized the reroute," our comms officer said.
"Tell her the demon general did."
"I'm not a general," the demon added, scanning the forest.
"What are you looking for?" I asked.
"The scouting party."
"They're down there. Where all the monsters are."
She shot me a flat look. "Marines still think they know everything."
"Like you'd understand what it takes to be one."
"Actually, I do. It's mostly luck."
"Excuse me?!"
Her gaze sharpened. "There he is."
She vanished again.
BOOM!
An explosion lit up the forest. Something huge—a fox the size of a skyscraper—flew out of the trees.
"She threw that?!" I shouted.
"You think she's on General Zelda's level?"
The captain and I exchanged a glance, still stunned.
"Sir," I muttered as we stood briefly behind cover, "we've fought with a lot of demon types before… but these… they're different."
"I know," he muttered back, eyes fixed on the fox monster. "It's like they don't care about command structures. They just do their thing and it works."
"She moves like she's seen a thousand battles. I don't think she even hesitated once."
"Her team looks up to her. That wolf girl, Marasuki, she obeys without a glance. No questions."
"Think we can trust them?" I asked.
The captain sighed. "We don't have a choice. Just keep your eyes open. If they go rogue, we shoot first."
"Understood."
Zelda's voice boomed across the walls. "Get your asses moving! Reinforce the interior!"
"Move out!" I barked, rallying my squad.
There wasn't time to process what just happened. We had to defend a stronghold, with a formidable adversary leading the charge.